Many of the questions children ask in the course of growing up can stump even the best educated adult: Why can't l tickle myself? Are we all related? Who named all the cities? Do aliens exist? What makes me me? Is it okay to eat a worm? Who invented chocolate? If the universe started from nothing, how did it become something? How do you fall in love? Who is God? How do chefs get ideas for recipes? Why are some people mean? This charming and informative collection has been compiled from schoolchildren's actual questions, which are answered by the world's greatest experts, including Mary Roach, Richard Dawkins, Philip Pullman, Bear Grylls, David Eagleman, Philippa Gregory, Noam Chomsky and Mario Batali. --Publisher description

Includes index

Machine generated contents note: Are there any undiscovered animals? / Sir David Attenborough -- Is it OK to eat a worm? / Bear Grylls -- What are atoms? / Marcus Chown -- Why are the grown-ups in charge? / Miranda Hart -- Why is blood red, not blue? / Dr Christian Jessen -- How are dreams made? / Alain de Botton -- How long would it take to walk around the world? / Rosie Swale-Pope -- Why do we have music? / Jarvis Cocker -- Do aliens exist? / Dr Seth Shostak -- Where does wind come from? / Rob Penn -- Why do we speak English? / Professor David Crystal -- Why did dinosaurs go extinct and not other animals? / Dr Richard Fortey -- Why do cakes taste so nice? / Lorraine Pascale -- How do plants and trees grow from a small seed? / Alys Fowler -- Why do monkeys like bananas? / Daniel Simmonds -- Is the human brain the most powerful thing on earth? / Derren Brown -- What is global warming? / Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock -- Why do I get hiccups? / Harry Hill

Contents note continued: Why is space so sparkly? / Martin Rees -- Why can't animals talk like us? / Noam Chomsky -- How do story writers get ideas for characters? / Dame Jacqueline Wilson -- How do cars work? / David Rooney -- Why can't I tickle myself? / David Eagleman -- Who had the first pet? / Celia Haddon -- Why are planets round? / Professor Chris Riley -- Can a bee sting a bee? / Dr George McGavin -- Why do we cook food? / Heston Blumenthal -- How do you keep going when you're losing in sport? / Dame Kelly Holmes -- Why do wars happen? / Alex Crawford -- Why do we go to the toilet? / Adam Hart-Davis -- Why do lions roar? / Kate Humble -- Why do we have money? / Robert Peston -- Who wrote the first book ever? / Professor Martyn Lyons -- Why do elephants have trunks? / Michaela Strachan -- Why are some people mean? / Dr Oliver James -- How do trees make the air that we breathe? / Dr David Bellamy

Contents note continued: If the universe started from nothing, how did it become something? / Dr Simon Singh -- Why do people have different-coloured skin? / Carl Zimmer -- Will the North and South Poles ever melt completely? / Dr Gabrielle Walker -- Where does `good' come from? / A.C. Grayling -- Why is the Sun so hot? / Dr Lucie Green -- What is the most endangered animal in the world? / Mark Carwardine -- Why do girls have babies and boys don't? / Dr Sarah Jarvis -- In Victorian times why did kids do all the work? / Claire Tomalin -- What is gravity, and why isn't there any in space? / Dr Nicholas J.M. Patrick -- Why can't we live forever? / Richard Holloway -- How does water get into the clouds so it can rain? / Gavin Pretor-Pinney -- Why do animals that fly have feathers, not including bats? / John `Jack' Horner -- How does my brain control me? / Baroness Susan Greenfield -- How do chefs get ideas for recipes? / Gordon Ramsay -- Are we all related? / Dr Richard Dawkins

Contents note continued: How do they know all snowflakes are different? / Justin Pollard -- Why does time go slowly when you want it to go fast? / Claudia Hammond -- Who first made metal things? / Neil Oliver -- How do the bubbles get into fizzy drinks? / Steve Mould -- Why is the sky blue? / Simon Ings -- How do sportspeople concentrate when the crowd is noisy? / Colin Montgomerie -- Do monkeys and chickens have anything in common? / Dr Yan Wong -- How did we first learn to write? / John Man -- Why do scientists look at germs, and why can't I see them? / Joanne Manaster -- Do any people eat polar bears or lions? / Benedict Allen -- Why does the Moon change shape? / Chris Riley -- Do numbers go on forever? / Marcus du Sautoy -- Where did the first seed come from? / Dr Karen James -- Why was Guy Fawkes so naughty? / Philippa Gregory -- What do you have to do to get into the Olympic Games? / Jessica Ennis -- Who was the first artist? / Michael Wood

Contents note continued: What am I made of? / Lawrence Krauss -- Why do penguins live at the South Pole but not the North? / Vanessa Berlowitz -- How does an aeroplane fly? / David Rooney -- What's the strongest animal? / Steve Leonard -- Who named all the cities? / Mark Forsyth -- Why is water wet? / Roger Highfield -- What would I look like if I didn't have a skeleton? / Joy S. Gaylinn Reidenberg -- Are cows polluting the air? / Tim Smit -- How do writers think of their ideas? / Philip Pullman -- Who invented chocolate? / Joanne Harris -- Why do men grow beards and not women? / Dr Christian Jessen -- Is sugar bad for you? / Annabel Karmel -- How did they build the pyramids in Egypt? / Dr Joyce Tyldesley -- Why is the sky dark at night? / Christopher Potter -- What should you do when you can't think what to draw or paint? / Tracey Emin -- How do you make electricity? / Jim Al-Khalili -- Did Alexander the Great like frogs? / Bettany Hughes

Contents note continued: What are our bones made of? / Alice Roberts -- If you're on a boat with no food or water, what do you do? / Roz Savage -- How does my cat always find her way home? / Dr Rupert Sheldrake -- What's inside the world? / Iain Stewart -- Who is God? / Julian Baggini -- Meg Rosoff -- Francis Spufford -- How many different types of beetle are there in the whole world? / Dr George McGavin -- How far away is space? / Marcus Chown -- How does lightning happen? / Kathy Sykes -- Why are some people taller than others? / Katie Woodard -- Why is wee yellow? / Sally Magnusson -- What was the biggest battle the Romans fought in? / Gary Smailes -- Why do I get bored? / Peter Toohey -- Are there really monsters living in our mouths called blackteria? / Liz Bonnin -- Why do we sleep at night? / Russell G. Foster -- Will we ever be able to go back in time? / Dr John Gribbin -- How does fire get on fire? / Dr Bunhead

Contents note continued: Why do we have lots of countries, not just one big country? / Dan Snow -- What makes me me? / Chris Stringer -- Professor Gary Marcus -- Michael Rosen -- If a cow didn't fart for a whole year and then did one big fart, would it fly into space? / Mary Roach -- Why is the sea salty? / Mark Kurlansky -- What is the internet for? / Clay Shirky -- How did Michelangelo get so famous? / Sister Wendy Beckett -- How do you fall in love? / Jeanette Winterson -- David Nicholls -- Professor Robin Dunbar -- If my stomach was unravelled how long would it be? / Dr Michael Mosley -- Why do we have an alphabet? / John Man -- Why do I always fight with my brother and sister? / Tanya Byron -- What are rainbows made of? / Rob Penn -- When did people start using recipes? / Mario Batali -- Why does the Moon shine? / Dr Heather Couper -- Where do the oceans come from? / Dr Gabrielle Walker -- Why do snails have shells but slugs don't? / Nick Baker -- Out-takes!

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